Strategies Older Adults Used During COVID-19 to Stay Connected

Abstract An unintended consequence of the physical distancing guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 may be increased feelings of social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify successful strategies used in avoiding social isolation and feelings of loneliness in older adults (50+) during the pandemic. Methods: Older adults (n=22) selected from a longitudinal study, Aging In the Time of COVID-19, who did not report loneliness, participated in a semi-structured interview via zoom. Individuals were asked a series of questions about how their lives were impacted by the pandemic and what they did to avoid social isolation and loneliness. Each interview was recorded and transcribed verbatim. transcripts were analyzed and categorized to identify common strategies. Results: Participants were primarily female and white (100%) with a mean age of 64.7 years. Preliminary findings (n=5) suggest older adults developed several effective strategies for combating social isolation and feelings of loneliness, including purposely reaching out and “checking in” on others; engaging in exercise, either alone or with others, and engaging in outdoor activities, such as socially distanced in-person encounters. Other effective strategies included virtual events (e.g. community or local events, museums or concerts, etc.), using technology to communicate with friends and family, and practicing gratitude consistently. Conclusions: Although older adults have been encouraged to stay at home and physically distanced throughout the pandemic, they have found ways to remain socially connected with friends, family, and community, despite not being physically together.

completed a series of questionnaires, including a measure of agency from the Midlife Development Inventory, a questionnaire that assessed level of skepticism about the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e. fake news beliefs), a depression scale, a question about their level of anxiety about developing , and questions about the frequency in which they sought information about the pandemic from different sources (e.g., TV, social media). A multiple regression using information seeking frequency as the outcome variable revealed several significant relationships. Specifically, younger adults, people with higher agency, and people with higher fake news beliefs all reported higher levels of COVID-19-related information seeking. In addition, there was a significant 3-way interaction between age, agency, and fake news beliefs. Disentangling this interaction revealed that older adults with low agency were least likely to engage in information seeking. There were, however, no age differences in information seeking in participants with high agency and fake news beliefs, but large age differences in participants with low agency but high fake news beliefs. Findings suggest agency is an important predictor of information seeking behavior, particularly for older adults with high levels of skepticism about the pandemic.

MOVING ONLINE: EVIDENCE-BASED PROGRAMMING DURING COVID
Susan Hughes, 1 Andrew DeMott, 2 Gerald Stapleton, 1 and Gail Huber, 3 1. University of Illinois at Chicago,Chicago,Illinois,United States,2. UIC,Chicago,Illinois,United States,3. Northwestern University,Chicago,Illinois,United States The COVID pandemic disrupted the way evidence-based health promotion programs (EBPs) are delivered to older adults who were the most at-risk group in terms of mortality and faced unprecedented threats to their independence and physical and mental health. Many organizations stopped in-person EBPS causing older adults to lose access to key social networks and health resources. It is a top public health priority to find new ways to keep older adults connected to their EBPs. Fit & Strong! (F&S!) is a group exercise/health education EBP for older adults with arthritis offered by CBOs in 32 states. CBOs stopped offering F&S! in-person in March 2020. Since the lockdown, we have worked closely with our provider network to develop and pilot a version that is remote/online and live, titled "F&S! @Home". Instructors deliver F&S! @Home to older adults with minimal technological resources. We created a staging website for both providers/instructors and participants that is used to initiate the classes, enable providers to manage participants, collect data, and share support materials. The pilot began September 2020; since that time 15 classes have been offered to 147 participants. Administration on Community Living falls and arthritis outcomes data are being collected. Preliminary analyses of 45 participants and 8 instructors demonstrate a high rating of the program (mean score of 90.2 out of 100) with no adverse outcomes to date. This presentation will review the process of creating the online adaptation, lessons learned, and will review pre/post outcomes and participant and instructor evaluation feedback. report loneliness, participated in a semi-structured interview via zoom. Individuals were asked a series of questions about how their lives were impacted by the pandemic and what they did to avoid social isolation and loneliness. Each interview was recorded and transcribed verbatim. transcripts were analyzed and categorized to identify common strategies.
Results:Participants were primarily female and white (100%) with a mean age of 64.7 years. Preliminary findings (n=5) suggest older adults developed several effective strategies for combating social isolation and feelings of loneliness, including purposely reaching out and "checking in" on others; engaging in exercise, either alone or with others, and engaging in outdoor activities, such as socially distanced in-person encounters. Other effective strategies included virtual events (e.g. community or local events, museums or concerts, etc.), using technology to communicate with friends and family, and practicing gratitude consistently.
Conclusions:Although older adults have been encouraged to stay at home and physically distanced throughout the pandemic, they have found ways to remain socially connected with friends, family, and community, despite not being physically together.

INJUSTICE SQUARED? AN INTERSECTIONAL LENS TO RESEARCH ON PRODUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT IN LATER LIFE Chair: Christina Matz Co-Chair: Cal Halvorsen Discussant: Jacquelyn James
Social inequalities over the life course shape later life opportunities and outcomes in important ways. However, research on paid and unpaid work in later life has not always captured (and has sometimes mischaracterized) the variety and complexity of lived experiences in later lifein particular for low-income workers, workers of color, women, and others marginalized due to their social position. Further, statistics often obscure the most important information: how the most marginalized older workers are faring. Intersectionality, a term coined by legal scholar, Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw, describes the overlapping and intersecting social identities that often influence how we move around in society. Some identities garner privilege and power and others oppression and marginalization; we must look at their intersection to better understand complexity and inform solutions. This symposium will apply an intersectional lens to research on paid and unpaid work in later life. The first paper is a scoping review that assesses the extent to which race and ethnicity are investigated in studies of the longitudinal association between workplace demands and cognitive health. The second paper explores how older Black and Hispanic adults' work engagement is impacted by COVID-19. The third paper considers gender differences in volunteer engagement among Asian-American older adults. The final paper examines the Senior Community Service Employment Program's role in participant financial, physical, and mental well-being. A discussant will reflect on these studies and the need for continued research that considers intersectionality in opportunities and experiences for paid and unpaid work in later life.

WORKPLACE DEMANDS AND COGNITIVE HEALTH INEQUITIES ACROSS RACE AND ETHNICITY: A SCOPING REVIEW
Ernest Gonzales, 1 Rachel Krutchen, 1 Cliff Whetung, 2 and Jane Lee, 3 ,1. New York University,New York,New York,United States,2. NYU,New York,New York,United States,3. University of Hawai'i,Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work,Honolulu,Hawaii,United States This PRISMA informed scoping review sought to understand the longitudinal association between workplace demands with cognitive health; and to review how race and ethnicity are investigated in this area of research and evidence of moderating effects. Peer-reviewed articles were drawn from five databases. Inclusion criteria were populations aged 18+, broad conceptualization of workplace demands (e.g., occupational complexity, mental work demands), and cognitive health outcomes (e.g., cognitive functioning, ADRD). The majority of studies drew from theories that did not interrogate heterogeneity and diverse aging experiences. Consequently, the majority of studies (85%) did not investigate inequities by race and ethnicity although variables and methods are available. Cognitive health inequities are evidenced but findings are mixed and more rigorous causal research is needed. We discuss integrating emerging critical theories (e.g. Critical Race Theory, critical gerontology, minority stress) to sharpen the focus on racial health inequities in an emerging area of prevention research. This study investigates how older Black and Hispanic adults' work engagement is impacted by the effects of COVID-19. Using intersectionality and cumulative (dis)advantage as complementing theoretical frameworks, data from the Health and Retirement Study, and series of logistic regression models, we measure work engagement changes pre-and post-COVID-19. Preliminary findings suggest that net of other controls, there were no substantial or significant reductions in resilience as the result of COVID-19 itself for any racial/ethnic group. White older adults, and to some degree Hispanics older adults, experienced erosion in resilience related to financial hardships, but the resilience of Black older adults remained stable in the face of increased hardship. Future work in this area will improve our limited understanding of older Black and Hispanic adults' experiences of managing and coping with COVID-19-related work and financial risks-information that will be critical for planning intervention and support services.